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Youngkin declines to remove controversial GMU board member

FILE - Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks at a news conference Nov. 8, 2023 in Richmond, Va.
Jay Paul
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FR170113 AP
FILE - Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks at a news conference Nov. 8, 2023 in Richmond, Va.

The speaker of Virginia's House of Delegates is calling on the governor to remove a member of the Board of Visitors at one of the largest universities in the state.

When the House of Delegates unanimously approved the appointment of Lindsey Burke to the George Mason University Board of Visitors, members of the General Assembly did not know that she would later play a prominent role in Project 2025. That’s the conservative think-tank plan to reshape the federal government’s functions and benefits.

Now, Speaker of the House Don Scott is calling on the governor to remove the co-author of the Project 2025 chapter on education.

"He won the election, and we understand that. He'll get to appoint some folks," Scott admits. "But the person who actually wrote Project 2025? That's a little much. I mean, even Donald Trump had sense enough to say, ‘I don’t know anything about Project 2025.’ Even he had sense enough to back away, and that’s how bad the document is."

In a written statement, the governor says he has no intention of removing Burke and he sees no reason to do so. Rich Kelsey was a student rep on the George Mason Board of Visitors when he was in law school back in the 1990s.

“I don't think anyone believes that George Mason University is going to become a conservative right-wing university," Kelsey says. "It did not when it had Ed Meese and Ed Feulner on its board 25 years ago.”

Ed Meese served as attorney general in the Reagan administration and later became a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Ed Feulner is a former president of Heritage. Both served on the George Mason Board of Visitors in the 1990s.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.